Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Gobert failed to get away quickly. "Today, the bike had a little bit of a problem getting started," he said. "When I went to do the warm-uR lap, it wouldn't start. Just brrrr, brrr [thumbs the starter button]. I was like, 'no way!' Then I come to the grid and I hope I'm all right. [At the start) I ran across, I was like right there. I did a practice start in the pit, and I was like really, really fast. I thought, 'Jeez, I might even have a shot to holeshot this thing; at least be up there with them.' Then, when I jumped on the bike - brrr, brrr - it didn't start. Then everyone went past and I was in like 20-something position." Ryo's adrenalin was still flowing through the S-curves and Dunlop Curve and had a several-bike-length gap on the field. Okada and Kato went around Kitagawa in the snaky uphill S-Curves and tagged on to Serizawa. On the run down the back straight Rossi pulled up on the inside of Ryo, but allowed Ryo to take the left-hand 130R corner at the end of the straight. At the end of the opening lap, Ryo led over Rossi by .085 of a second, with Yanagawa after Rossi by a similar amount. A half-second later came Serizawa, with Okada and Kato in tow. Kitagawa was a second behind Kato, and had Yuichi Tekeda, on a satellite team Honda VTRlOOOSPl, to worry about in eighth. The Yoshimura-entered GSX·RI000 X·Formula bike was closely behind as well. The corner workers had their first call of the day on the third lap when Osuma Deguchi on the Yoshimura GSX· R 1000 overcooked Spoon Curve. Deguchi, who has won the X· Formula class in the two previous 8 Hours with Australian Shawn Giles, was hauled off to the hospital with suspected cracked ribs and a broken finger or two. There was no rivalry between the leaders displayed over the next three laps. On the seventh trip around the circuit, Rossi drafted Ryo on the back straight, and at the start/finish was dead even with Yanagawa. There are no prizes for guessing who reached turn one first. The lead pack caught the slowest of the slow riders on the 10th lap at the right kink corner from Degner to the ultra-tight hairpin. Kato overtook Yanagawa while overtaking the backmarker to move up into fourth. Down the back straight, Okada stretched the throttle cable of his Honda to move around Ryo. At the end of 10 laps, Rossi was nearly a second in front of Okada, with Ryo a quarter-second later in third. Kato was three-quarters of a second later in fourth, with Yanagawa a like distance away in fifth. Kitagawa was now shaken off the lead group, TadayukJ Okada (33) holds off the third fast Honda team of Tohru Ukawa and Daljiro Kato, with the factory Suzuki machine giving chase. "I have never been so tired before in [an] 8-Hours race," Barros said. "However, I never gave up." The Honda one-two finish marked the fifth consecutive year that the motorcycle giant has maintained a firm grip on the all-important race. Honda has now chalked up 16 victories in 24 Suzuka 8 Hours. Finishing third to spoil an all Honda sweep of the podium was Team Suzuki, the lone factory team from Suzuki. They started from pole and took advantage of the new·for· 2001 regulation of three-rider teams in the race, but their race plan went out the window when Yukio Kagayarna rode off at Spoon Curve. Teammates Akira Ryo and Atsushi Watanabe shared third-place honors. "We were really looking forward to win, and we had the chance to win," Ryo said. "The other teams were very competitive. " Team Suzuki finished on the lead lap, a minute behind Okada and Barros. Defending 8 Hours champions Tohru Ukawa and Daijiro Kato finished 11 seconds behind the Suzuki. Both Ukawa and Kato were unhappy with how their machine set-up worked in race conditions. As was the case last year, their Honda was fitted with Dunlops, but this year the Michelin tires used by the other two Honda teams were the envy of others. The day was as bad for Kawasaki and Yamaha as it was good for Honda and Suzuki. The first-string Kawasaki team of Akira Yanagawa and Hitoyatsu Izutsu crashed three times from contact when overtaking lapped riders. The second-string team of Tamaki Serizawa and Gregorio Lavilla were out of the game when Lavilla highsided in the fourth hour, smashing the seat sub·frame. Yamaha found that last year's YZF-R7s were no match against this year's Honda VTRI000s or Suzuki's GSX·R750. The team of Anthony Gobert and Noriyuki Haga were holding down fifth for hours on end until their R7 spit the drive chain off with 20 minutes to go. The second factory Yamaha was doing nearly as well until rider Wataru Yoshikawa crashed it at mid-race. "It's pretty disappointing," Gobert said. "It's the same problem we've been having in America with the bike • the chain coming off. It's a real shame. We rode really hard. We all deserved a top-five finish - it would have been nice. That's the way it goes." Gobert rode the 8 Hours while still feeling the effect of his broken left wrist. "I had fun," the Australian said. "But to be honest, I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to make the race. Considering like even a week ago, Brainerd even, I couldn't string that many laps together. Then to come here - this is probably the most demanding track in the world - to come here and race the 8 Hours, still pretty banged up, I'm happy with my performance. I thank Dr. [Art] Ting and David Gray for helping me get through this. Without them, it wouldn't have been possible." Floridian Michael Barnes finished 39th on the Hooters Suzuki GSX· R 1000. Barnes rode with Kyoichi Kosaka after Hooters Racing's Mike Ciccotto declined to ride due to lingering injuries. Despite a lows ide crash by Barnes and, later on, transmission problems, the Hooters Suzuki made it to the checkered flag in front of 82,000 fans. Endurance World Champions Phase 1 never made it past the second hour, after Tony Rees crashed on cold tires and destroyed their Suzuki GSX-RI000. Their only real competition at Suzuka as far as the Endurance World Championship at Suzuka is concerned was the Chinese monikered Zongshen Team, with riders Stephene Mertens and Warwick Nowland. Zongshen Team finished ninth overall, and first in the Super Production class, with their GSXRI000. They improved their standings in the Super Production World Cup championship to third with 92 points. Suzuki Castrol Team leads the championship with 150 points. RACE The streak of good weather through practice and qualifying con· tinued into race day. Good weather, by Suzuka standards, is hot with noticeable humidity. Bad weather is hot with sweltering humidity. Or typhoons. The 4?-minute pre-race practice session foretold the race, both beginning and end. Eight teams clocked times between 2:09 and 2: 10, the fastest being Edwards and Rossi with Okada and Barros second, ready for business. It's always an 11 :30 a.m. start for the 8 Hours, but the organizers pace things to have the riders in place for the Le Mans start at 11 :28. There is a lot of build up to the start, with pretty girls prancing about and tension-filled music blaring out of the PA system. Adrenalin got the best of Ryo, who twice ran to the Armco in front of the grandstands: once to toss a chair over the fence, and a second time to punch the sky with both fists. Come 11 :30 a.m. Ryo put his pent-up adrenalin to constructive use, and shot off into turn one first on his Suzuki. Rossi, rarely an impressive starter in Grand Prix, followed, with the Kawasakis of Yanagawa and Serizawa third and fourth. Keiichi Kitagawa was fifth on an X-Formula-class Suzuki GSX·RI000. "It was very good," said Rossi of his first-ever LeMans start. "I want to propose for World Championship." cucle n e _ S • AUGUST 22, 2001 7

• Cover